Vulnera Sanentur
by Sharon Rose Black
Summary: Severus Snape, James Potter, and Sirius Black end up in the hospital wing together after some poorly managed mischief. Was this simply the result of two unfriendly spells rebounding? Or was something much...darker at play?


**Disclaimer:** The Harry Potter Universe belongs to J.K. Rowling, Scholastic Books, Warner Brothers, and various other entities. It is only my playground, and no money has exchanged hands.

**Back Story:** In 2017, a beloved member o the fandom was hospitalized with a serious illness, and…well, the fic mostly wrote itself. It contains some hospital humor, because as the Weasley twins well know, humor is often the best way to deal with horrible things.

**Dedication:** To V. Nigel Taylor

Severus Snape lay in the hospital wing, trying to remain stoic despite the long gash that ran horizontally across his abdomen. He was hoping Madam Pomfrey would come to his station soon, soon, with the promised pain potion. But currently, the healer was rushing about the ward in her usual brusque but efficient manner, trying to attend to the many patients that had seemingly appeared overnight.

In the bed to his left sat James Potter, bellowing loudly at the latest copy of _Martin Miggs the Mad Muggle_ while grasping at the bats that swarmed out of his nostrils with every sneeze. His behavior was so obnoxious that it was even annoying Sirius Black, who lay in the bed to Severus' right, with his wand arm in a sling and an ice bag on his head.

"Blimey, could you pipe down for five seconds!" Black snapped. "I've got a bleeding headache!"

"Sure, Mate. Sor…a-a-a-chooo…!"

Again the bats flew. Potter rose to his knees and grasped at them with one hand and pantomimed holding his broom between his legs with the other. Only an imbecile, Severus thought to himself, could be more amused than annoyed with such a malady. Finally, he caught one, kissed it, ad held it up for his captive audience to behold:

"And he's DONE IT!" he bellowed, in an annoying imitation of Dirk Cresswell, Hogwarts' current Quidditch commentator. "James Potter has CAUGHT THE SNITCH! GRIFFINDOR WINS OVER SLYTHERIN THREE THOUSAND TO…"

"SHUT UP!" yelled Black, over the patients' grumbling. And for once, Severus sympathized with him.

"Ten points from Gryffindor, Mr. Potter," Madam Pomfrey snapped, bustling into the space that separated Severus from Potter. "Now, Mr. Snape," she began, "before I give you your potion, I need to ask you a few general questions…"

He found her questions extremely embarrassing. His face flushed as Potter sniggered. Black only groaned.

"I beg your pardon," he stated defensively, folding his arms across his chest.

"What I'm _asking_," replied Madam Pomfrey, as Potter brayed like a jackass, "is have you…"

"I _know _what your asking!" he snarled. "And that _really _isn't any of your business!"

"On the contrary!" Madam Pomfrey snapped. "As your healer, it absolutely _is _my business, and you've lost Slytherin five points. Now…have you-"

"Hey Poppy!" Potter butted in. "Aren't you going to ask me if I've moved _my _bowels?"

With that, Potter flipped back the blankets, turned his bare backside towards Severus, and expelled a loud, malodorous fart. Severus hung his head and closed his eyes as his opinion of Potter plummeted to an all-time low.

"Oh, perfect timing, mate!" Black groaned.

Severus glanced upward. There, in the doorway, stood Lily Evans, holding a bouquet of white asphodel, lavender, and acid pops in one hand, and a hand-made card in the other. Out of the corner of his eye, he observed with satisfaction as Potter's face grew redder than the Gryffindor banner.

Lily curled her upper lip at Potter. With seeming reluctance, Madam Pomfrey stepped aside, signaled for her to enter, and went to help another patient.

Lily rushed to Severus' side and set her offerings on the tray above his knees. He shifted and grimaced in pain as she took his hand in hers and sat, as gently as she could, on the bed beside him.

"Oh, I'm so _sorry!" _she cooed. "Does it _hurt?"_

"Only when he smiles!" Potter sneered. "So…no worries. Your little Snivellus will be just fine!"

Lily glared at Potter, then returned her attention to Severus. "I've been so _worried, _Sev! I don't understand how _anyone" _-here her eyes cut into Potter like daggers-"could do something so horrible to another human being!"

Severus' insides quaked as Potter's jaw dropped.

"Surely you're not blaming _me_ for this, Evans!" he snorted, a single bat flying from his left nostril and disintegrating into a wisp of smoke.

"All the evidence points towards you and Black!" Lily replied.

Black sat up. _"Me?" _he barked, the ice pack falling from his head. "I was just a innocent bystander!"

"Which means you did nothing, and are therefore as guilty as Potter!" Lily retorted.

"It was a _joke, _Evans!" Potter said. "Its his own fault he's…"

"Excuse me?" Severus snarled, pulling himself upright with much pain and effort.

"Well, it is!" Potter insisted. "If you hadn't tried to block my harmless little jinx with…"

_"Rictusempra!" _Snape finished, his eyes narrowing. "_Which _I never would have done, had you not attempted to hex me to begin with!"

"WILL BOTH OF YOU _SHUT UP?" _barked Black, burying his head underneath the pillow.

"WHY DON'T ALL FOUR OF YOU SHUT YOUR PIEHOLES!" yelled Heather Clark from across the wing. "_SOME _of us would _like _to catch a nap!"

"That's the best idea I've heard all day, Miss Clark," Madam Pomfrey snapped from Deb Matthews' bed. Then she looked at Lily:

"I know this isn't your fault, Miss Evans. But I must ask you to leave, since your presence is proving to be disruptive."

"Fine," Lily replied. She glared at James, then slowly rose, released Severus' hand, and met his eyes with hers:

"I'll come back when I can," she mouthed silently. Then she turned to Potter:

"I hope you snort bats forever! _Toerag!"_

With that, she turned on her heels and stalked out of the hospital wing, the heavy wooden door slamming behind her.

Potter was dumbstruck. Deliberately, Severus pulled a single acid pop from the bouquet and, despite the pain, eased himself backwards onto the pillows. The corners of his mouth twitched upward ever so slightly as Potter's eyes narrowed:

"You know, Snivellus," he said. "I would gladly leave you alone, if only you would leave Evans alone."

"That," Severus replied, "will only happen at _her_ request, you miserable swine!"

"_SHUT UP!" _Black yelled.

Slowly, Severus unwrapped the acid pop, covertly watching with straight-faced, quiet amusement as James' face grew redder and redder. He brought the candy to his lips, planning to savor its tartness along with Potter's outrage, when Madam Pomfrey rushed to his bedside and snatched it from his hand.

"You're not putting that or anything else in your mouth until you've answered my questions!" she snapped. "Now…_have you moved your bowels today?"_

Potter roared, snorting yet another swarm of bats, while Black swore and folded the pillow around his ears.

"Is there any way we could discuss this matter…_privately?" _Severus asked softly.

Madam Pomfrey nodded, waving her wand. A set of screens materialized around the bed, and she put a silencing charm on them, so that Potter and Black could neither hear their conversation nor annoy them with their nonsense. Severus then answered her questions, however irritably, and allowed her to cleanse and apply dittany to his wound.

The dittany stung, but that was the only result. It took every bit of his determination to remain quiet. Madam Pomfrey looked perplexed.

"That's rather…_odd," _she stated.

"What's odd?" Severus asked, drawing his eyebrows together.

Madam Pomfrey shrugged. "The bleeding's stopped, but the wound won't close. Dittany is supposed to do the trick, but this…I've never seen…"

"When can I leave?" he asked quickly.

"First the wound must close," Poppy replied. "I'd say a week…perhaps. Possibly longer."

That was the last thing he wanted to hear.

"Can I at least move to another bed?" he asked. Pleading was beneath him, but he couldn't stand the thought of spending seven days wedged between Potter and Black.

"Currently my hands are full," Madam Pomfrey stated. "If I leave the screens up, will that suffice?"

Severus nodded. Madam Pomfrey looked perplexed.

"I still don't understand this…" she said, turning her attention back to the open wound."

Quelling his nervousness, Severus looked her directly in the eye, taking extra measures to keep his voice steady and his story, straight:

"I've told you three times. Potter tried to jinx me with _Chiropetrus Tunicus* _and I counterattacked with _Rictusempra. _Our wands locked, and both spells…"

"Backfired," Madam Pomfrey finished. "So you've said. But what I'm having trouble comprehending is: how could a simple backfired tickling jinx all but cut you in half?"

With that, she pointed to his wound. It had indeed stopped bleeding, and the dittany would stave off any infection. But the wound showed no signs of closing. Nor would it, unless he could get his wand…

"I don't know," he said simply. "But that's precisely what happened."

Madam Pomfrey didn't press him further, but instead focused on treating his wound, applying salve and butterfly sutures with expertise. "What I _do_ know," she said, cutting a long strip of gauze which she placed over the cut, "is that you're _very _lucky to be alive. Five more minutes and you would have bled to death!"

Severus remained quiet as the healer taped down the gauze. "That should do it," she said. "If not, Professor Dumbledore will want to examine both yours and Potter's wands. In the meantime," here she patted his shoulder, "try to rest. I'll be back shortly with a potion for your pain."

Severus' nerves prickled as the healer rushed away. He pondered his current predicament, ,and was grateful for the screens which hid Potter and Black from sight and mind.

He tried to relax. Instead, he started to ruminate.

He needed his wand desperately, yet he dared not ask for it. Furthermore, he had no idea where it was. Had it been returned safely to his dormitory? Or was it already in Dumbledore's office, along with Potter's, pending investigation?

Dark magic. He loved the power of it, and what it could do. But, as Professor Slughorn had said on many occasions, it was a power to be respected. Never to be taken lightly.

He had almost lost sight of that. Something he would never had done, if it weren't for Potter and his Merry Men!

Lily had been the one to warn him of their plan to ambush him, having heard it from Kia Gaffikin, who had heard it from Mary McDonald, who had weaseled it out of Peter Pettigrew.

_Pettigrew…! _Snape snorted every time he thought of that worthless lump of bat dug! If anybody would bring about Potter's and Black's downfall, it would be him! And Potter and Black were too dense to realize it.

He felt sure it would happen. In due time.

And…he could wait for it.

He _should _have waited for it.

But…he had been too filled with rage. Besides, Potter would never give him any peace, until he was forced to do so.

Lily, of course, had begged him to finish his potions homework in his dormitory. "They'll be waiting by the library for you," she had told him. "If you stay in your common room, that will ruin their plan."

She had been right, of course. However, Professor Slughorn had granted him access to the Restricted Section, something he never had done for Black or Potter. And he had needed the books he was after to write a paper that not only exceeded expectations, but was outstanding.

He did promise Lily, however, that he would not provoke them. And that he would only act in self defense.

And…he had kept that promise.

Sort of.

It would have been prudent to simply block the unfriendly spell, which he could have easily done with _Protego. _But he had already suffered far too much at the hands of Potter and Black. Admittedly, he had desired revenge, to inflict pain, to teach both of them-Potter in particular-a lesson they would never, _ever_ forget…

He had seen them in the corridor by the library. He had drawn his wand at the same time Potter drew his. Black had been standing at Potter's side, ready to act his second…

Two against one. Godric Gryffindor would have been _so _proud!

_"SECTUMSEMPRA!" _Severus had shouted, at the same time Potter had yelled, _"Chiropetrus Tunicus!"_

The next thing he knew, he had been thrown backwards down the corridor, with his own blood pooling around him. Across the way, he could see Black struggling to his feet as Potter had rushed to his side, trailing bats in his wake…

He remembered grappling for his wand. Fortunately, it had fallen within reach. It had taken all of his strength to lift his arm and trace it across his wound…

_"Vulnera Sanentur," _he barely managed to murmur…

The bleeding slowed, then stopped. Then, he had passed out...

"Sev," he heard the familiar voice whisper frantically. _"Sev?"_

The potion Madam Pomfrey had given him must have contained a sleeping draught. Slowly, cautiously, he opened his eyes…

In spite of the darkness, he instantly recognized the sweet face that hovered above his, pale and angelic in the moonlight that streamed through the lancet window.

"Lily?" he whispered groggily. "What…"

"I slipped out of the dormitory," she whispered back. "I had a feeling you might need me."

He moved, then gasped. The potion had worn off. He felt like he was being ripped open.

"Yes, Lily. I…could…use your help," he replied.

"What do you need?" she asked.

"I…need you…to bring me my wand," he whispered. "The password to the dungeons is…"

"Sev, I don't know if I can get into the boys'…"

"You can't," Severus replied. "But Black's younger brother might still be in the common room studying…"

Severus winced as he shifted positions. He looked at Lily, and saw sympathy in her eyes.

"It hurts, doesn't it?" she asked.

He nodded. "That's why I need my wand."

"But Sev…if Madam Pomfrey can't heal it, then how…"

"Lily please…no questions!" he begged. "I know…I'm asking…a lot. But…it's the only way I can close the wound…stop the pain…"

Lily's face softened, and she stroked his brow.

"All right," she whispered. "I'll try. What did you say the password was?"

"I didn't," Severus replied. "It's Snake Fang."

"Snake fang," Lily whispered. "All right then. I'll be back soon."

Lily left, and Severus waited, for what seemed like an eternity. He looked at his surroundings, the pain in his abdomen flaring and ebbing with every breath he took.

The hospital wing was almost empty now, and the screens around his bed were down. As per his request, he had been moved to another bed.

Only four other beds were still occupied. In one of them, Clark slept soundly, her wounded leg elevated on a stack of pillows. In another lay Matthews, mumbling some sort of nonsense about bugs and bunnies. The other two beds were both partitioned from view. The one furthest from him must be Potters, he deduced, from the occasional bath that hovered, then disintegrated, above the screens. The other one was probably Black's.

Sirius Black. Now there was a name for you. Fortunate enough to be born into one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight families, and yet he was proving to be a festering pustule on the faces of his relatives.

But why? Oddly enough, Severus got along well enough with Regulus. He even sympathized with the younger Black who, despite his heritage, often indicated that they dynamics within the Black household were as flawed as the ones in his own.

Perhaps he would have gotten along with Sirius as well, had he been sorted into Slytherin. Instead, he had been sorted into Gryffindor, where he trotted happily behind Potter with this nose well planted up his backside.

Not that it mattered much. Because Potter and Black deserved each other. Of that much, he was certain.

He was still thinking bitter thoughts about Black and Potter when Lily finally returned.

"Regulus looked, but couldn't find it," she whispered. "He thinks Dumbledore has it, along with Potter's."

"Brilliant," Severus said glumly. "But…I appreciate you trying, Lily."

Lily bit her lip, glancing quickly around the hospital wing, where Matthews and Clark still slept soundly, and Potter and Black were still hidden from view. Quickly, she placed a silencing charm around the bed, then, with a wink, placed her own wand at his side.

Severus was totally floored. He couldn't believe that anyone, even Lily, would be willing to take such a risk for him.**

"This one time," Lily whispered faintly.

Severus touched the wand, and felt its magic stirring. It wouldn't work quite as well as his own. But…it would get him out of the hospital wing. Away from Potter and Black, and probably off the hook with Dumbledore…"

Then a wave of guilt hit him. Because she trusted him. So completely. And if she ever found out the truth, he would probably lose her trust forever…

"I…can't Lily," he said, shaking his head. "I won't let you risk…"

"This one time," Lily insisted. "I cannot bear to see you in such pain…no matter what the cause."

Severus opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off:

"I have to run to the loo," she said. "Just..do what you need to do before I get back, and I won't have seen anything."

With that, she left. Severus sat for several moments, turning Lily's elegantly crafted, willowy wand slowly in his fingertips…

_Should I, _he thought. _Or _shouldn't _I?"_

The wand's magic was stirring again. Even more strongly now. He took this as a sign. After a final glance at Matthews and Clark, he carefully removed the gauze bandage and traced the wound…

_"Vulnera Sanentur," _he whispered.

Almost immediately, the pain eased. Again, he traced the wound:

_"Vulnera Sanentur."_

The pain faded into nothing. He felt a slight tingling sensation. A sign, possibly, that the flesh was starting to knit.

_"Vulnera Sanentur," _he whispered, tracing the wound one last time.

The tingling sensation stopped. Hopefully, the countercurse had worked. But…there was only one way to know for certain…

He pulled the blankets over his head, whispered, _"Lumos," _and examined the wound…

It had closed. There was a faint scab, which could possibly turn into a faint scar. Highly unlikely, though, since Madam Pomfrey had poured enough dittany into the open cut earlier to mend a mortally wounded erumpent.

He extinguished the wand and taped the bandage back into place. He would have loved to rip it off, as well as the butterfly sutures, but it would be better to leave that to Madam Pomfrey.

Lily returned a few moments later. The hospital wing was turning gray in the morning light. She said nothing, but he could see the question in her eyes:

_Did it work?_

Severus nodded. She winked, took her wand from his hand, then left the hospital wing…

Clark stirred slightly, while Matthews continued to mumble in her sleep. Potter sneezed loudly, but the bat swarm had slowed. Only five this time. The jinx was wearing off.

A few moments later, he saw an origami fly over the screens of Potter's bed and dive behind the partitions of the other. A few moments later, the action was reversed.

So…Potter and Black were passing notes to one another. Possibly, about him…

But he didn't care. Not very much.

Because he had just proven to himself that he was more talented than either of them. That the curse he had created to defend himself against them had been successful…

And that knowledge was even more healing than the counter-curse to the same.

~_Finite Incantato_

* * *

_*_The Bat Bogey hex. Obviously. Until Canon states otherwise.

**During this era, of course, Voldemort was rising to power, and things were starting to "happen" at Hogwarts. Consequently, the Ministry of Magic had passed some educational decrees, effective at the beginning of the school year. One stated that students attending Hogwarts were subject to having their wands traced, at any time, for any reason. They were also strongly discouraged from lending or borrowing each other's wands, and were subject to expulsion if caught doing so.

Yes, Dumbledore would possibly look the other way, especially if he was fond of the student. Of course, not everybody at Hogwarts knew that, and there was always the risk that the Ministry would stick its big nose in where it wasn't wanted.

Yeah, I totally made this us. But I think its at least plausible. And the Marauder's era is still uncharted territory, and I hope it remains so.

I might expand on this idea…at another time. Until then…Mischief Managed.


End file.
